A New Focus on Focals

If you've been hanging around here for any length of time you know that the Man and I are junque collectors.  He went  on a dig this last week and brought home some trinkety wonderfulness I'll share after my department has processed them, The Scrubbing and Evaluation Division of the Archival Museum.  I was design pondering focals this last week and started layering bits from scrounges of days gone by, and thought to share a little of this madness.  I soldered some bits to excavated antique furniture hardware.  The solder darkened the rhinestones on the right, but after I studied it awhile, I decided I really like the effect.  I suppose I was lucky they didn't explode.


These are the beginnings of necklaces or bracelets, okay so now moving on to the other two focals I finished and actually listed. 

SOLD!, Thank you so much!

I am getting really fast and efficient with the torches, but still seriously lucky I didn't damage the cameo.  What on earth was I thinking?

An absolutely gorgeous pearl set into chased silver-I soldered it into the center of this antique brass filigree buckle.  Not so lucky, I singed the side of the pearl.  Not a huge deal particularly in this genre of jewelry, and the tiny little singe almost makes you wonder where the pearl has been...I really don't know what I was thinking.

Moving along now....a sweet friend sent me some bullet casings from her target practice, (Thank you Mary dear!!) and I was wanting to play with them a bit. Sawed off bullet casings filled with resin and I must have been feeling a little something when I chose the sentiment....what was I thinking???

The truth is, I was working on these when the disaster hit Japan, and was so very overwhelmed with grief and feelings of helplessness.  I wished and prayed for it all to 

And that's what I was thinking.

Until next time...